I spent the past week visiting my grandmother, who had undergone surgery, so my family and I were in charge of the cooking. On our drive to her house, we passed by so many farmer’s market stands. We picked up some peaches, watermelon (commonly named a Sugar Baby) and beautiful tomatoes. Don’t forget to take advantage of fantastic summer produce! In addition, my grandmother requested blueberry pancakes before I even got to her house, so I also planned to make those pancakes by having a list of ingredients ready on my phone (OneNote is a great tool!).
Stuffed Zucchini
With that in mind, I chose to make stuffed zucchini to accompany grilled chicken one night. Zucchini is one of my favorite vegetables in all of its forms; besides these stuffed zucchini, simple grilled zucchini sprinkled with kosher salt are so good that I can eat an entire zucchini by myself.
Back to the stuffed zucchini, the recipe itself is fairly simple. Although it only called for three zucchini, the farmer I bought the zucchini from was selling two for $1, so I bought four. It was fairly simple to up the recipe for four zucchini since I’d made the recipe before. To be honest, this recipe can be a guideline more than a strict play-by-play (cooking has way more leeway than baking).
A few notes about my process: The recipe calls for you to make your own breadcrumbs. Since I was not in my own kitchen, I decided to opt for pre-made breadcrumbs, and no one was the wiser. Once you start cooking the filling for the zucchini, the process starts moving quickly, so mise en place is very important (read: have everything chopped, measured and waiting in prep bowls next to your stove before you start).
While making the stuffed zucchini, I listened to one of My Daily Mixes on Spotify. Similar to the Discover Weekly playlist, Daily Mixes are specifically tailored for the listener based on their musical preferences. They are also sorted based on similar genres and moods, so you can choose a playlist of artists that you like to suit your mood.
Final verdict: The zucchini were delicious, as usual. Although we had them as a side, with a larger quantity, they could easily be a hearty vegetarian main. Most importantly, my grandmother loved them.
Blueberry Pancakes
Since my grandmother asked for blueberry pancakes, I was able to do some research before I got to actually making the pancakes. Per usual, I turned to trusty Bon Appétit. Along with being a great resource as a whole, Bon Appétit also has a collection of their best recipes, basically cooking staples called BA’s Best. I chose to use their buttermilk pancakes with a simple addition of blueberries.
A few notes on making the pancakes: Making pancakes is one of the simplest processes, just don’t over mix the batter and the pancakes will come out great. When cooking them, use a nonstick pan or a griddle to make sure that your pancakes won’t stick to the ban. I doubled the recipe because there were five very hungry people that I was feeding. To make sure that the pancakes didn’t get cold, I put each batch in the oven set to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
Since it was early in the morning, I refrained from playing music, but spent time talking to my family as they drifted in and out to get the ever important cup of coffee.
Final verdict: The pancakes were fantastic, and adding blueberries was simple, yet effective in turning already delicious buttermilk pancakes into delicious blueberry pancakes.
Cooking for my grandmother was super fun, even though being in someone else’s kitchen was more complicated than I expected.
Food, Friends, Odds & Ends 